Quarantining Nerite snails and how to handle them gently!

I show you how I quarantine nerite snails, why you might want to, and how to get them to retreat into their shells for gentle handing.

[@langenandanimals]

❤❤ I appreciate how much care you put into even snails

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks! Thank you so much for watching and commenting, too! ☺️

[@jackanddan]

Great tips Tara we love our snails and especially our little nerite snails 🐌 🐌😀😀👍👍

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks Dan, this is an old one!😅 I think nerites might be my faves. My oldest one I've had about 4 years now. Thanks for watching, I appreciate it! 😊

[@yourlocalaquarist3134]

I just wanna say thank for this video, it’s not often people care about even the littlest of creatures like those little snails 🐌 so I appreciate this care video

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thank you! Idky, but this comment went to the spam folder, so I've only just seen it. Thank you for the kind words! ☺

[@karlahernandez752]

I have a 3 year old nerite in a 10 gal and was thinking about getting another since she is older. Thank you so much for this quarantine video. Now I am comfortable getting a second snail since I know how to quarantine it before hand.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks so much! 3 years is pretty old for a nerite! Hope you enjoy your new one!

[@karlahernandez752]

@@TarasTankFriends i am sure I will they are great betta tank mates and fun to watch. Even the excessive egg laying does not bother me. I am estimating her at around three years but I think she might be a little bit older. I am shocked at how long she has lived!

[@amandawitherspoon5225]

Our local fish store doesn't have a huge variety of anything but I support them because they are really nice people. I have been wanting some nerite snails and they finally got one of them in. So I bought that one and four yellow mystery snail, and three gray snails. Four months later, I now have close to 100 baby snails and five clutches of eggs getting ready to hatch. The lady at the pet store said that her snails have never laid eggs. I can't get mine to stop.

[@TarasTankFriends]

I don't know what gray snails are, but Mystery snails are like that! Maybe you can sell some back to the store for store credit or sell them on etsy?

[@amandawitherspoon5225]

@@TarasTankFriends I already checked with the lady at the pet store and she said she will take some. I was watching a video about snails on another channel and he claimed that these snails won't breed or lay eggs in fresh water. I told him that my 100 baby snails and several clutches of eggs didn't know that.

[@mikkel6690]

This is so helpful, I'm setting up a 15 gallon tank soon and all the video's I've watched nobody ever mentions quarantining snails. Which thinking about it seems silly not to.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thank you! It's a little surprising other people don't mention it more. I feel like it's better to be safe than sorry! I'm so happy you found this helpful, thank you for watching! ☺🐌

[@KingsAquariumsAndAntWorld]

Great video as always tara, nice little setup for them to be quarantined in

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks! ☺️

[@KingsAquariumsAndAntWorld]

@@TarasTankFriends everything u are doing for you aquariums is spot on

[@ronrobertson7691]

Great video. This should help me keep them safe and healthy and happy. I have the black helmet ones in a 10l bucket just now with netting. Feeding algae wafers and lettuce. Thank you so much.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Glad you liked the video, thanks so much for watching! ☺

[@TarasTankFriends]

Your snails should do quite well with that! 👍

[@ronrobertson7691]

@@TarasTankFriends I got them for brown algae. Hope they eat that ok. Substrate is fine black sand which I understand they will be ok with.

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@ronrobertson7691 hi Ron, they will eat some brown diatom algae for sure, though I've found they really love eating green spot algae the most. The fine sand should be really good. 👍

[@ChristianSouthernGirl]

Thank you so much for your video!! Very helpful!

[@TarasTankFriends]

I'm so happy you liked it! Thank you for watching! ☺

[@jenniferbrook1720]

Thank you for this.. I ordered pond snails for my assassin snail in my main tank but since the snails was shipped during the holiday and delivery was extended a extra 2-3 days so I want to quarantine these pond snails before adding them to my tank.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hello Jennifer, I would quarantine them personally. You can supplement your assassins with blood worms or other meaty foods in the mean time. 🙂

[@jenniferbrook1720]

@@TarasTankFriends okay thank you!

[@alexsaquatics7620]

Nice video 👍. I only have pond snails but I like them they are cool . I want to get some different types though. 👍✌

[@TarasTankFriends]

I have pond snails too, they're great for eating brown diatom algae. At the time I am writing this, the nerites have eaten so much of the green spot algae, I may have to leave the lights on longer so they have food 😶! Thanks for watching! ☺️

[@alexsaquatics7620]

@@TarasTankFriends I've just had to scrub it off my tanks I might look into getting some.👍✌

[@langenandanimals]

I like volunteer snails too

[@alexsaquatics7620]

@@langenandanimals 😉

[@timrussell89]

Nice video. I have a ton of malaysian trumpets. Excellent little cleaners

[@TarasTankFriends]

Cool! None of the stores near me have Malaysian trumpets, only nerites (and pond snails, lol). Thanks so much for watching and commenting! ☺️

[@timrussell89]

@@TarasTankFriends Honestly I got my trumpet snails by accident. They where already inhabiting a used tank I bought and multiplied by a lot haha

[@CoffeeTimeBrian11]

Great info.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hi, I'm so glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching! 😄

[@sienaumberg5602]

I just stumbled across this video, and I’m super thankful because I am getting my snail soon. Do you recommend adding live plants to the quarantine tank to oxygenate the water, or is it easier to just have a bare tank?

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hi, sorry I missed your comment! If you're keeping them in a 1/2 gallon critter keeper for qt, like I do mine, I would say it's easier just to keep it bare, though you could add an air stone on low. You could also do a small epiphyte like anubias Nana petite if you really want a plant in it. Thank you for watching! ☺ (Edit: I should add that it's important to do the 100%daily water change only because my container isn't cycled, however, if you have a fully cycled qt tank, that changes things..)

[@jeanetterios7337]

im geting 1 soon 🥳🤗 Spoilers here!

[@TarasTankFriends]

Congrats! 🐌🥳

[@jeanetterios7337]

I hav 1 now🥳!

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@jeanetterios7337 Nice!🐌 What kind is it?

[@michaelmattia4966]

Can you move snails that are very small like super tiny .2-1 mm off the glass the same way?

[@TarasTankFriends]

That is super tiny! What kind of snails are they? If they're baby nerites, I would hesitate to move them at all at that size, personally, they can be a bit stubborn about pulling their foot up. But it really depends on the species of snail.

[@michaelmattia4966]

@@TarasTankFriends I think one is a pond snail and the others are trumpet snails I was able to move them without much fuss tho

[@mt890]

Thank you for the great information! Do they need an air stone or are they ok in still water while they are in qt?

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hi there, for the 1/2 gallon container I use, I personally feel like an air stone would be too much turbulence. The most important thing is to do the 100% water change daily with the appropriate amount of dechlor. However, if your container is bigger than mine, an air stone is a good idea! Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Good luck with your nerite snails! 🙂

[@mt890]

@@TarasTankFriends Thanks so much! 😊

[@stephanieortega9408]

Does this work for mystery snails as well?

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hello, just using my own experience, I'm not sure I would recommend it as I have done it with small young mystery snails and it went ok, but they were much more lethargic at room temperature than the nerites and I ended up cutting their qt period short. If I tried this qt method with them again, I would probably add a 3watt nano heater or set the container on a low watt water- proof electric heating pad, or just use a cycled qt tank. Thanks for watching and asking! 🙂

[@stephanieortega9408]

Thank you! I’m doing this now since I got a little mystery snail and want to add him with my betta🥰

[@TarasTankFriends]

That sounds nice, I wish you great luck! 🙂🐟🐌

[@michaelmattia4966]

Can you remove smaller snails off glass the same way? like ones that are about .2-1 mm

[@SageAsuka]

Did the nerites move a lot while in quarantine? I have mine in the same tank set up however it doesn't like to move much. This is my first time owning a snail so I'm a bit paranoid that I'll hurt it by accident. Thank you for the wonderful tutorial!

[@TarasTankFriends]

Yes, mine moved around in quarantine a bit most of the time. Sometimes they will climb up out of the water too, but just for short periods of time, or if their water quality has gotten bad. They do sleep, so yours might just be sleepy. In the fish tanks, I will sometimes have one that doesn't move for an entire day. I also have a really large zebra one that is quite lazy in general, lol! I wouldn't worry if they're not moving too much as long as they're not too cold and you're keeping their water quality good. The fact that you're concerned about them means you're a good snail parent! Thank you so much for watching and I hope this helps! 🐌☺️

[@SageAsuka]

@@TarasTankFriends The water is colder than I'd like due to where I live, but I'm doing my best to find solutions to ride out the quarantine. I've only had them since Wednesday but I already love them

[@TarasTankFriends]

I'm so glad my video was helpful! ☺️ A tiny little 5-8 watt heater would help, if you can't go out due to the quarantine, maybe you could order one? I have an aquarium stand with a shelf that sits over a heat vent in my house. Something I have done with snails in the winter is put their container on the shelf of the stand at night. Not directly over the heat vent, but about 1.5' above it to help keep them warm. Doing something like that might help, just be careful that they don't get too hot. An aquarium thermometer might be helpful to monitor the temp if you try that way. All that being said, as long as you keep your house at around 72°F/22.2°C they should be ok for a week or two until they're out of quarantine. I hope that helps, thank you so much for watching and commenting! ☺️✌️

[@TonnaTonna]

Hey 🙋🏾‍♀️ I’ve noticed short little white strings on my tiger snail, the lower half of her while she’s moving around but not on her shell. I just got her yesterday. Is it poop or something I should be worried about?

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hi there, unfortunately it's really difficult for me to tell what it is without a picture. When I was new to nerites, I saw some little things that I at first were concerned were worms, but it turned out to be poop. Their poop can be light colored or dark colored depending on what they've been eating, but it's almost always sort of shaped like a pill 💊 and doesn't move on its own. That being said it could also look like white stringy feces, which is basically snail diarrhea. That would indicate that the snail needs to eat more. It should be on the left side of their body if you're looking at the snail from the underside with the head facing up. It also could be detritus worms if they are long and skinny that are just hitching a ride, those are really nothing to worry about. It could also be planaria, which is usually a short white worm with a triangular head shape. If it were me, I would observe for a few days to see if they fall off, then it's probably detritus worms or poop. If it continues, and you're concerned, you can use a med containing praziquantal (prazipro, general cure, paracleanse). I've used all 3 of these meds without harm to invertebrates. If it's planaria, Fenbendozole is usually the med to go for, however it is *not* invertebrate- safe. They can be naturally gotten rid of with less feeding and small predatory but peaceful fish that will eat them. In my experience, dwarf gourami and peacock gudgeons are particularity adept at hunting them down. Comparing your issues to photos online can help tell you what's going on, too. Again I'm sorry I can't give you more specific help as I can't see the issue for myself, but I hope you'll find this somewhat helpful!

[@TonnaTonna]

@@TarasTankFriends Wow, thank you so much for that detailed response🙏🏾 I truly appreciate it!☺️😌 I think it may just be poop because it’s on the left side like you said but I’ll keep an eye out for any movement. && it was 💊 shaped. I gave her a wafer so hopefully I see the color change soon. It’s in a small tank quarantining before I add her to my tank with two other fish. I’ll keep her in there for 2-3 weeks like you recommended in your video🐌

[@TarasTankFriends]

I'm so happy to help out! Just make sure to take any uneaten algae wafer out every day so it doesn't foul the water. Likely it's just poop then. Take care! ☺

[@seanflynn8467]

Hey, we’ve spoke before, I’ve ordered some nerite snails, should I accumulate them first or just put them right in :)

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hi Sean, I remember you! 🙂 It's ideal to acclimate them, however I did not do this in my video because at the time I only had fish bags and was worried that the snails would flip over in the bag. Nerites cannot right themselves if they flip over and will die. I've just seen way too many dead upside down nerites at the fish stores. The snails seemed fine without acclimation, but of course I can't tell how they feel. I now have a specimen container that can hook over the side of the tank with a flat bottom. If you have something like that, anything with a flat bottom, you can acclimate them. I'm sure it's much gentler for the snail. 🙂

[@seanflynn8467]

@@TarasTankFriends thank you so much, I ordered them online from a breeder and they turned up in a plastic bag with a piece of cotton, without any water, they’ve been in the mail for around 2/3 days, I’ve put them in the tank and they haven’t moved but apparently it takes time, hopefully they’re not dead, there was no foul smell and they was still in the shell, also do you have any other social media where we can chat?, I’m still new to keeping aquariums 😂

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@seanflynn8467 hi Sean, it's not that unusual that people will ship snails without water, but it's usually with very damp cotton or paper towels. Yeah that is kind of a long time for them to be in the mail though. I hope they'll be ok!! Well I don't do Facebook, too toxic. I did recently start a Twitter, but it's really just a place for me to share photos and memes, and life stuff. It's not all aquarium related, though some of it is. But you're more than welcome to talk to me there if you want. My Twitter is @beavisemojihere. You can also email mail me at [e-mail].

[@seanflynn8467]

@@TarasTankFriends okay thankyou very much again! :)

[@CoolGobyFish]

I usually just throw them in

[@TarasTankFriends]

Up to you!

[@yassysgdk]

How long is a the quarantine time for snail?

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hi, I quarantine them for 2-3 weeks. *most* of the bacterial diseases they could pass on to a fish will die without a fish host during that time. I do it because where I buy them, they are kept in tanks with angel fish. It's really just a precaution. If you buy your snails from snail only tanks, and they're not connected to tanks with fish via central filtration, quarantine probably isn't necessary. Thanks for watching! 🙂

[@yassysgdk]

@@TarasTankFriends Thank you for quick reply. I do quarantine fish with seachem paraguard 2 weeks. Snail does not need any pretreating med as well? Also, how do you determine the snail in quarantine is safe to add to the tank?Crack?Hole?Behavior? Also, snail does not need heater and filter during the quarantine and they do not need cycled tank? Thank you. I am new to this.I would like to add snail to shrimp tank in the future.

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@yassysgdk I personally do not medicate the nerite snails, as they are almost never actually infected with things that can affect fish, they can just be an intermediate host. Some medications are not invertebrate safe, also. You do not need a cycled tank as long as you do a 100% water change every day with dechlorinator. ( Nerite snails are much more tolerant of large water changes than fish.) The container I use for them holds 1/2 gallon of water, if your container is smaller, you may want to change the water more than once a day. You may also find the snails have climbed up out of the water-- this is totally ok, they can survive out of water temporarily and it is likely a sign that you need to change their water or they are looking for food. As for the heater, it really depends on how warm you keep your house. If it's at least 72°F, they will be fine without one for a couple of weeks. At this temp, they will be a little sluggish, which is actually a good thing because they will eat less, poop less, and foul the water less. If you keep your house colder than that, you may want a small heater. Just be sure that the snails can get away from the heater if they are feeling too warm. Cracks or other shell issues are usually a sign of physical damage or a calcium deficiency, and not disease or parasites. For what to look for as to when it's ok to introduce them to your tank, basically they should be acting like, well, snails. I know that might sound a little funny, that's not my intent, I'm just not sure how else to word it, sorry. With the methods I use in my video, I've never had a nerite snail die or come under too much stress during the quarantine process. Hope this helps!

[@TarasTankFriends]

Also, please understand that my advice is for nerite snails *only*, I do not have experience with other species, eg.: mystery, rabbit, or Apple.

[@seanflynn8467]

Great video, can these snails live in colder waters :)

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hello, thank you! Nerites can live in 65-82°F or so, however I've found that they get a bit sluggish, don't eat as much algae in temps under about 74°F.

[@seanflynn8467]

@@TarasTankFriends okay thankyou very much, do you recommend any cold water algae eaters 😁

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@seanflynn8467 Hi Sean, what's your set up like and what kind of algae are you looking to get rid of?

[@seanflynn8467]

@@TarasTankFriends sorry for the late reply, I’ve only just got the notification for some reason, I’ve got a 6 gallon tank with only 1 white cloud minnow (I rescued him from an owner who didn’t want him) I know they’re a fish that like to be in groups, I don’t know how long he’s been alone, do you think I should buy him some tank mates or do you think he’ll be aggressive and I’m just looking for an all round algae eater

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@seanflynn8467 no worries at all! Thank you for taking in the little white cloud! 🙂 It's true that they do better in groups, 6 or more is ideal. However, I feel that's a little difficult in a 6 gallon. I think I would personally leave him either singly in a tank that size or maybe getting him 2 friends, and consider getting a group of about 5-6 cherry shrimp. They're great little algae grazers with a very low bio-load , so good for nano tanks, and can live in cooler temps, down to 68°F or so. (You might have to supplement food for them if there isn't enough algae). Another option is a ramshorn snail, (I would just get one) however, ramshorns can multiply out of control if there's excess food in the tank, and I feel that snails in general create a heavier bio-load. I've never had my ramshorn in lower than 77°F though, so I can't personally speak to whether or not they get sluggish like nerites. If you consider getting at least a 10 gallon tank then your white cloud could have more friends, and I think you'd have more fun watching them, too! I hope that's at least somewhat helpful!

[@_JoestarThestar]

Mine kept dying :(

[@TarasTankFriends]

I'm sorry to hear that. Can you tell me a little bit about their set up including water parameters?

[@_JoestarThestar]

@@TarasTankFriends not sure, I just use tank water

[@davidbenavides8174]

Youre wasting water, at least use it on something

[@TarasTankFriends]

This video is over 2 years old, but thanks for the advice. ✌